1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus and an image recording method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for recording position information together with image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, image data captured by various types of digital still cameras is recorded in an Exchangeable image file format (Exif). The captured image data recorded in the Exif includes many pieces of additional information in addition to a captured image. The captured image data attached to the additional information is recorded as the image file. Therefore the captured image data and the additional information attached the captured image data are managed as one data object.
Information attached to the captured image data is generally referred to as metadata. The metadata includes a model name, a serial number, and a maker name of an imaging equipment which captured the image data, and an identification symbol of a photographer, image capturing position information, a shooting condition, a shooting date and time, face information of a person to be photographed, a title, a memo, or the like. The metadata is used in searching target image data.
The metadata is used in, for example, categorizing image data by using the shooting date and time to collect image data captured at a specific date and to display a list thereof, and in categorizing the image data by using face information of a person to be photographed to collect image data including the specific person and to display a list thereof. The metadata is also used in relating the image data to which image capturing position information is attached to map data to display the captured image data on the map after superimposing the captured image data over the map data.
As described above, by using the metadata, functions convenient to a user can be realized. However, the metadata includes information possibly related to privacy of the photographer, such as the identifying symbol and the image capturing position information of the photographer, in some cases.
Recently, there is a memory card or a digital camera which has a wireless function and thus can sequentially transmit captured image data to a server without requiring the user to perform a data transfer operation if a server of a transfer destination is designated in advance. An infrastructure for uploading image data to the server is developing as described above. Therefore, a possibility rises that the image data is opened to public while private information is still attached to the image data.
To resolve the above problem, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2007-88754 discusses a method for preventing the private information from being transmitted by transmitting image after deleting the private information from the additional information attached to the image data when the captured image data is transmitted.
However, even when the user wishes to transmit the image data after providing some editing operation, in a case where the user uses a memory card having the above described wireless function, information such as image data may be automatically transmitted before providing the editing operation to the image data.